WHITTIER – When an oil well nestled in a foothills neighborhood in northwestern Whittier exploded nearly a year ago, rattling windows and forcing people out of their homes, the stage was set for a battle royale between residents and the oil company.

Whittier City Manager Steve Helvey saw a bitter stalemate developing as residents clamored for the city to close down the well operation, owned by Matrix Oil of Santa Barbara, a scenario that seemed highly unlikely given the high price of gas.

“I thought it was going to be very difficult for Matrix to be accommodating enough and for the homeowners to take a reasoned approach,” Helvey said.

But subsequent events would disprove Helvey’s worse fears.

Instead of digging in their heels, the residents dug into old records that convinced them that any legal action against the company would be a protracted affair with little chance of success.

Nearly a year after the May 19 explosion that killed a well worker and ignited a fire that burned for days at the site at 12515 Honolulu Terrace, Matrix officials and residents agreed to a series of changes that the City Council signed off on this past week.

Specifically, Matrix agreed to install new odor-control equipment at the well site, build additional block walls around the area to cut down on noise and improve safety, and create new landscaping along the well’s Honolulu Terrace street frontage.

“In looking at the big picture, it’s a good thing for us to do,” said Jeff Kern, vice president of Matrix. “\ is an important asset to us. We want to take any opportunity we can to work with the neighbors.”

John Young, president of the Northwest Whittier Hills Homeowners Association, which formed in June specifically to deal with the oil well issue, said initially “there was no question we wanted \ out” – until his group began researching the oil well’s history.

They learned that residents had battled the city over the well once before, in 1971, when the site was first opened by a different company. Matrix acquired the site – and the former company’s operating permit from the city – in 2001.

Residents in the 1970s sued the city over its granting of a permit for the oil well, a battle that went all the way to the California Supreme Court, where the residents lost.

“We learned that somebody had tried to go up against the city and the oil company, spent a lot of money and lost,” Young said. “We decided not to go that way.”

In addition to that previous battle, the city could not find any new legal grounds on which to force Matrix out, Helvey said.

“The Fire Department didn’t have a problem with the fire safety measures being taken at the site,” Helvey said. “The state Division of Oil and Gas also didn’t find them to be a safety hazard.”

As a result, the homeowners’ group decided to approach the negotiations as a business deal, Young said.

“The next best thing was to boil it down to what we needed. We needed to feel safe and not have all of that noise,” he said.

So, with McFarland acting in a sort of broker role, the three parties – residents, city officials and Matrix Oil – began working on an agreement last summer.

“With the price of oil as high as it is, it was in Matrix’s interest not to have their operations interrupted,” said McFarland.

City Councilman Greg Nordbak said compromise was key in the talks. “Everybody got in the boat, grabbed an oar and rowed in the same direction,” he said.

As the council was approving last week’s agreement, residents were praising the pact, saying they now feel safer living next to the oil well.

“It’s a lot better, especially with the city going to be keeping an eye on things and being more involved,” said Chuck Hanson, a Honolulu Terrace resident.

“The company has been doing an excellent job of trying to make the place look better. It’s one of those things we can’t change,” he added. “But they’re doing everything they can do it to make it as acceptable to all of us.”

Mike Sprague started at the Whittier Daily News in April 1984. Since then, Sprague has covered every city in the Whittier Daily News circulation area, as well as political and water issues. Sprague received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science, both from Cal State Fullerton.